Design for a frame for the portrait of Armand Guéraud 1862

Charles Meryon made this etching, "Design for a frame for the portrait of Armand Guéraud", using metal plates and acid. Meryon's intricate lines create a world of symbolic objects around an empty frame. We see piles of books, each bearing titles that hint at the sitter's intellectual pursuits. This is framed by dense fields of hatching, creating a contrast between light and shadow. The etching process itself is labor-intensive, demanding meticulous work to transfer the design onto the metal plate. Here, the marks of labor become part of the image's meaning, echoing the sitter’s own dedication to his craft as a legal professional. The inclusion of volumes like 'Code' and 'Lois' reinforce this. Ultimately, Meryon’s print invites us to consider how the value of intellectual and artistic work is produced, circulated, and framed within society, challenging traditional distinctions between art and labor.